Grand View To Test Medicine From Leeches

Well, not actually leeches, but Hirudin, a clot-inhibiting medicine based on an extract from the saliva of the blood-sucking worm.

The hospital in West Rockhill Township, which prides itself for taking part in many drug trials, will participate in a 3,000-patient, multi-national trial for Hirudin.

The trial comparing the new drug to heparin, a well-known longtime synthetic drug, has not started, which is good news for community residents. In the week and a half the hospital has had the new drug, an eligible patient has not been admitted with a heart attack.

Hermany said preliminary studies showed very good results with Hirudin, which could become part of the three-part treatment of heart attack patients.

Heart attacks are caused by blood clots in diseased arteries. Hermany compares it to a clogged, rusty drain pipe.

Current treatment calls for the elimination of the clot with a lytic drug, which dissolves it. Heparin ensures clots don't re-form, and aspirin participates with the drug to prevent the clot's return.

"The lytic drugs act like Drano to open up the vessels," he said.

The treatment has decreased the number of in-hospital deaths associated with acute heart attacks and the recurrence of heart attacks in the hospital, Hermany said.

Hirudin was originally drawn from leeches, but will be developed in the lab for use in humans. It is manufactured by Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals of Summit, N.J.

Leech therapy has a long history because of the worm's ability to draw blood.

"Leeches are making a little bit of a comeback," Grand View pharmacy director Fred Pane said. "It had been a cure for every disease, going back to the 1600s and 1700s."

Pane said some hospitals use live leeches during amputations.

Hermany said neither he nor his patients would know whether they are receiving heparin or Hirudin. Patients would receive either the new treatment or the current treatment, he said.

"There's no placebo," he said. "We guarantee they will receive at least the standard treatment."

To be eligible for the study, the person must go to the hospital within 12 hours of first feeling the symptoms of a heart attack and agree to take part in the study. Women in child-rearing years, people with blood-clotting problems or high blood pressure are not eligible.